Rail launcher for airborne missiles

ABSTRACT

A single fixed rail of a rail launcher for airborne missiles has a central longitudinal track in its underside and a pair of side tracks. Removable or relocatable rail track adaptors are fitted into both the central track and the pair of side tracks.

This invention relates to rail launchers for airborne missiles.

There are a wide variety of rail-launched missiles in general use,almost all imposing different mechanical interfaces and therebyrequiring, until recently, a dedicated rail launcher to operatesatisfactorily. Recent years have seen the development of rail launcherscapable of interfacing and operating with more than one missile in orderto provide users with operational, logistic and cost benefits.

The most operationally useful group of short range and medium rangemissiles comprises the AMRAAM, Sidewinder, ASRAAM and Sparrow (includingAspide) families of missiles, and multi-role launchers have beendeveloped to carry these missiles either by:

(i) the use of two launchers, one for AMRAAM, Sidewinder and ASRAAM andthe other for Sparrow;

or by

(ii) the use of a single launcher but with two interchangeable rails,whereby different interface requirements can be accommodated, railchange being achieved either by a suitable quick release connection orby multiple fasteners. (see for example: EP-A-0136917, GB-A-2166526,US-A-4660456 and US-A-4711151).

However, whilst these methods can provide significant benefits, comparedto using four separate launchers, they still involve appreciableoperational, logistic, mass or cost problems.

In order to overcome the inadequacies of the current multi-rolelaunchers we have sought a method of providing for the operation ofAMRAAM, Sidewinder, ASRAAM, Sparrow and/or other existing or, as yet,not developed types of missiles from a single launcher without having tochange the rail.

According to the present invention, a single fixed rail has a centrallongitudinal track in its underside and a pair of side tracks, andremovable or relocatable rail track adaptors are fitted into both thecentral track and the pair of side tracks. In the preferred arrangement,the desired change of rail configuration is achieved by fitting orremoving the central rail track adaptor and by inverting the side trackadaptors which are vertically asymmetrical. Removing the central adaptormay be achieved simply by shifting it along its track to an inoperativeposition.

Thus, in a first aspect of the present invention, we provide a raillauncher adaptable for co-operation with airborne missiles havingdiffering hanger configurations by providing a plurality of railconfigurations, said launcher being characterised in comprising a singlefixed rail having a central longitudinal track in its underside and apair of side tracks, and removable or relocatable rail track adaptorsfor both the central track and the pair of side tracks.

By incorporating local rail adaptors into a common fixed rail then,depending upon the orientation/location of these adaptors, the launcherinterface geometry can be readily changed to provide one of two (ormore) configurations.

In a second and alternative aspect of the present invention, we providea method of adapting a rail launcher from a first rail configurationadapted for co-operation with hangers of a first set of airbornemissiles to a second rail configuration adapted for co-operation withhangers of a different set of airborne missiles by removing orrelocating adaptors for a central longitudinal track and a pair of sidetracks of a single fixed rail.

In one configuration, AMRAAM, Sidewinder and ASRAAM missiles can bedirectly operated or, in the other configuration, Sparrow, Sidewinderand ASRAAM can be directly operated. Adaptor repositioning is onlyrequired to change between AMRAAM and Sparrow, with the change ofconfiguration being quick and simple to perform and readily capable ofbeing carried out whilst the launcher is attached to the aircraft.

Additional benefits are provided in that (i) all the adaptors can beretained on the launcher in both configurations, if required, and (ii)the use of these adaptors makes it possible to selectively employsuitable adaptor materials to cater for high bearing loads (especiallyin the case of the Sparrow button) without compromising the main fixedrail.

Arrangements according to the invention will now be described in moredetail by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1A shows an embodiment of rail launcher constructed in accordancewith the present invention at together with the profile for Sidewinderand ASRAAM hanger configurations at FIG. 1B and for the Sparrow hangerconfiguration at FIG. 1C with which the rail launcher in theconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 1A is adapted to cooperate;

FIG. 2A shows the rail launcher of FIG. 1A with its central trackadaptor removed or relocated and the side track adaptors invertedtogether with the profile of Sidewinder and ASRAAM hangers at FIG. 2Band of AMRAAM hangers at FIG. 2C with which the rail launcher in theconfiguration shown in FIG. 2A is adapted to co-operate; and

FIG. 3A through 3E illustrate five alternative configurationsrespectively for the side tracks and side track adaptors illustratinghow the adaptors may be mounted to the side tracks in the rail launcherof FIGS. 1A and 2A.

The main components of the system are illustrated in FIG. 1A andcomprise the common fixed rail 1 having a central longitudinal track 2and a pair of side tracks 3. The side tracks 3 are provided with a pairof side track adaptors 4 and the central longitudinal track has acentral track adaptor 5.

Missiles of the Sidewinder and of the ASRAAM families have "TEE"-hangersas indicated schematically at 6 in both FIG. 1B and 2B. Missiles of theAMRAAM family have forward and aft hangers of "TEE"-hanger configurationas indicated schematically at 7 in FIG. 2B. Hangers of the Sparrowfamily have one pair of "CEE"-hangers and a central button asrespectively shown schematically at 8 and 9 in FIG. 1C Missiles of theAMRAAM family have "CEE"-hangers 10 and a forward button 11 co-locatedwith the forward one of the "TEE"-hangers 7 mentioned above, asschematically shown in FIG. 2C.

As will be explained, the illustrated embodiment of rail launcher isreadily adapted to receive hangers with the configurations possessed byall these families of missiles.

The fixed rail provides common slots 12 adapted to receive the"TEE"-hangers for AMRAAM (forward and aft hangers), ASRAAM (all hangers)and Sidewinder (all hangers).

The central track adaptor 5 which is longitudinally slidable on rails 13in the central track is profiled at 14 to receive the central button 9of Sparrow hangers. The side tracks are located in relation to theprofiled region 14 of the central track adaptors such that with the sidetrack adaptors in the orientation illustrated in FIG. 1A, the"CEE"-hangers of the Sparrow hanger configuration are received in slots15 of the side tracks simultaneously with the central button 9 beingreceived in the profile 14 of the central track adaptor.

Inversion of the side track adaptors 4 to provide the configurationshown in FIG. 2A enables the "TEE"-hangers 7 and the "CEE"-hangers 10 ofthe AMRAAM hanger configuration to be simultaneously received in theslots 12 of the central track and the slots 15 of the side trackadaptors. As will also be clear from FIG. 2A, in order to accommodatethe forward button 11 within the central track, its adaptor islongitudinally slid out of the way. Unlike the Sparrow button which isused for rail launching, the AMRAAM button is only used when AMRAAMmissiles are launched from an eject launcher. The AMRAAM button is thusinoperative in the illustrated rail launcher and merely needs to beaccommodated spacewise, as it does not need to coact with any part ofthe structure.

Retention of the side rail adaptors in the side rail can be achieved ina number of ways and five alternative ways are illustrated in FIG. 3Athrough 3E FIG. 3A, 3B, 3D and 3E, this is achieved by giving the siderail a re-entrant profile (for example dovetail or similar) with theadaptor being longitudinally slidably received therein. In thealternative arrangement of FIG. 3C, a separate keeper plate 16 or thelike bolted into position holds the side track adaptor in place. In theFIG. 3D configuration, the rear surface of the side track adaptor isprovided with local buttons which key in a keyhole slot 17 in the rearsurface of the side track.

The preferred embodiment of rail launcher has the particular advantagethat in one rail configuration it can accept any of the Sidewinder,ASRAAM and Sparrow families of missiles and in the alternativeconfiguration is capable of receiving any of the Sidewinder, ASRAAM andAMRAAM families of missiles so that a change between one configurationand the other is only necessary when the launcher is in the FIG. 1Aconfiguration and it is desired to use an AMRAAM missile or in the FIG.2A arrangement and it is desired to use a Sparrow missile. Moreover,adaptation from one configuration to the other could not be simpler. Thecentral track adaptor is simply slid longitudinally into or out of place(which may or may not involve complete removal from the track) and theside track adaptors are simply inverted, preferably by longitudinallysliding out and then longitudinally sliding back in the invertedconfiguration.

Although the invention has been particularly described and illustratedwith reference to the AMRAAM, Sidewinder, ASRAAM and Sparrow families ofmissiles, the present teachings can readily be applied to rail launchersfor other existing families of missiles or to future families ofmissiles as yet not developed.

I claim:
 1. A method of adapting a rail launcher from a first railconfiguration adapted for co-operation with hangers of a first set ofairborne missiles to a second rail configuration adapted forco-operation with hangers of a different set of airborne missiles byrelocating adaptors for a central longitudinal track and a pair of sidetracks of a single fixed rail.
 2. A method according to claim 1, whereinsaid first rail configuration is adapted for cooperation with hangershaving Sparrow, Sidewinder, and ASRAAM configurations, and wherein saidsecond rail configuration is adapted for co-operation with hangershaving AMRAAM, Sidewinder and ASRAAM configurations.
 3. A methodaccording to claim 2, wherein said rail launcher is adaptable from saidfirst configuration to said second configuration by effectively removingsaid central adaptor by longitudinal sliding and inversion of the sidetrack adaptors, the side track adaptors being vertically asymmetrical.4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step ofdisengaging said central adaptor from said rail launcher.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising the step of removing saidadaptors from said central longitudinal track.
 6. A rail launcheradaptable for cooperation with airborne missiles having differing hangerconfigurations by providing a plurality of rail configurations, saidlauncher being characterised in comprising a single fixed rail having acentral longitudinal track in its underside and a pair of side tracks,and relocatable rail track adaptors for both the central track and thepair of side tracks.
 7. A rail launcher according to claim 6, whereinsaid fixed rail and rail track adapters enable said launcher to acceptSidewinder, ASRAAM and Sparrow missile hanger configurations.
 8. A raillauncher according to claim 6, wherein said fixed rail and rail trackadapters enable said launcher to accept AMRAAM, Sidewinder and ASRAAMmissile hanger configurations.
 9. A rail launcher according to claim 6,wherein said rail track adaptors are removable from said centrallongitudinal track.
 10. A rail launcher adaptable for cooperation withairborne missiles having differing hanger configurations by providing aplurality of rail configurations, said launcher comprising a singlefixed rail having a central longitudinal track in its underside and apair of side tracks, and relocatable rail track adapters for both thecentral track and the pair of side tracks, a change of railconfiguration being achievable by fitting said central track adapter,and by inverting the side track adapters, the side track adapters beingvertically asymmetrical.
 11. A rail launcher according to claim 10,further characterised in that the single fixed rail is provided withslots adapted to receive TEE-hangers of Sidewinder and ASRAAMconfigurations and also TEE-hangers present in the AMRAAM hangerconfiguration.
 12. A rail launcher according to claim 10, furthercharacterised in that said central track adaptor is provided with a slotadapted to receive a central button of a Sparrow hanger configuration.13. A rail launcher according to claim 10, wherein the centrallongitudinal track is configured to accommodate a forward button of anAMRAAM hanger configuration when said central adaptor is removed.
 14. Arail launcher according to claim 10, further characterised in that theside track adaptors are provided with slots adapted to receiveCEE-hangers present in a Sparrow hanger configuration in oneconfiguration of the side track adaptors in the side tracks, and adaptedto receive CEE-hangers present in an AMRAAM hanger configuration whenthe side track adaptors are in their inverse configuration in the sidetracks.
 15. A rail launcher according to claims 10, furthercharacterised in that the side rail adaptors are longitudinally slidablyreceived in the side tracks, the side tracks having a re-entrant profilethereby to retain said side track adaptors against sidewaysdisplacement.
 16. A rail launcher adaptable for cooperation withairborne missiles having differing hanger configurations by providing aplurality of rail configurations, said launcher comprising a singlefixed rail having a central longitudinal track in its underside and apair of side tracks, and removable rail track adapters for both thecentral track and the pair of side tracks, a change of railconfiguration being achievable by slidably removing said central trackadapter, and by inverting the side track adapters, the side trackadapters being vertically asymmetrical.